I am the fire upon the hearth,
I am the light of the good sun,
I am the heat that warms the earth,
Which else were colder than a stone.

At me the children warm their hands;
I am their light of love alive.
Without me cold the hearthstone stands,
Nor could the precious children thrive.

I am the twist that holds together
The children in its sacred ring,
Their knot of love, from whose close tether
No lost child goes a-wandering.

I am the house from floor to roof,
I deck the walls, the board I spread;
I spin the curtains, warp and woof,
And shake the down to be their bed.

I am their wall against all danger,
Their door against the wind and snow.
Thou whom a woman laid in manger,
Take me not till the children grow!

~ Katharine Tynan

In addition to her poetry, Irish-born poet Katharine Tynan wrote more than one hundred novels in her lifetime (1861 – 1931), five autobiographical volumes, plays, short stories, a book about her dogs and countless newspaper articles.  Her work has been described as having a blend of both Catholicism and feminism.

She was a close friend of William Butler Yeats – one of the most famous writers of the 20th century.  Some believe he may have proposed marriage to her around 1885, but he was rejected and she chose another.